(AI-generated image @ChatGPT) Boardroom’s latest issue is out, and its central question is one that few association leaders can avoid this year. At a time when information is a click away and an algorithm can summarise a congress before the closing keynote, why do delegates still board planes?
The Feature, “Why Do We Still Meet?”, puts the question to contributors from convention centres and associations. For ESAE, Olivier Nussbaum of Brussels Booking Desk argues that associations must know who they are bringing together before AI changes the event. Dermot Ryan of ICCA makes the case for congresses designed around participation and legacy. Sven Bossu, CEO of AIPC, reports from St John’s on the shift from space to place, and Juliano Lissoni of MCI Canada looks at what a community does with knowledge once it has been delivered.
Around the Feature, the issue covers what keeps association leaders busy. Our editor’s letter asks whether there is still neutral ground for associations in an uncertain world, and Dr Ole Petter Anfinsen explains why trust is the secret currency of good governance. We preview the Association Leaders Forum, designed with ESAE and taking place at IBTM World in Barcelona on the afternoon of Tuesday 17 November, and the Destinations section visits Italy, Barcelona, Estrel Berlin, Montreux-Lausanne, GL events in China, Montréal, Québec, Glasgow and Sarawak.
Two new destination supplements accompany the issue. “The Place to Business: Marseille for Association Congresses” follows a city back in the ICCA top 100, at 95th place among 4,728 cities, after hosting 29 international association congresses in 2025, up from 24 the year before. “Munich: Where Congresses Connect with Knowledge” looks at a destination whose universities, research institutes and industry give an association a substantial starting point for its programme.
You can download all your copies on this link.